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and in that sense, it's not helpful. >> the movie portrays the cia analysts and also cia officers in the field and then obviously special forces. but in reality, there was an fbi component and a lot of dissension between the fbi and the cia, bob. >> sure. >> well, the fbi doesn't -- >> go ahead. >> bob, go ahead. >> the fbi is against torture. it can't take the evidence and take it into court. an fbi agent who interrogated khalid sheik muhammad disagreed that torture got anyone anywhere. they're completely opposed to it. the cia was reluctant to use torture, too. it was the pentagon and also a result the mixed. >> do you fear this becomes the narrative, that people will see this and think, okay, waterboarding got bin laden? >> yeah. i mean, i think that's the bottom line. i don't think that's not the filmmaker's intent, and they have many other scenes in the movie about how the relationship with the foreign intelligence service derived a very important lead, the real name of bin laden's courier house, they tracked down the cell phones he was using and how human spies on the ground in
and in that sense, it's not helpful. >> the movie portrays the cia analysts and also cia officers in the field and then obviously special forces. but in reality, there was an fbi component and a lot of dissension between the fbi and the cia, bob. >> sure. >> well, the fbi doesn't -- >> go ahead. >> bob, go ahead. >> the fbi is against torture. it can't take the evidence and take it into court. an fbi agent who interrogated khalid sheik muhammad disagreed that...
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that was a decision made by the cia, the managers of the cia. i mean, certainly any agency of the u.s. government which has a big success would probably want an accurate portrayal of that success. i think that was why the filmmakers met with this particular woman. as fran points out, there is actually -- there were men involved in this. it isn't just a female agent that did everything. the film suggests that a female agent played an essential role. there's another person that goes by the name of john who has some press attention in the past who was equally important so let's be accurate about this. >> fran, i want to ask you, i want to read a quote to you that was in this "the washington post" piece from a former cia official describing the environment at the agency. this is what the quote says. "the agency is a funny place. very insular. it's like middle schoolers with clearances." i want to get your take on that how does the cia culture play into this controversy surrounding this woman now? >> no question it's a very insular place by its very
that was a decision made by the cia, the managers of the cia. i mean, certainly any agency of the u.s. government which has a big success would probably want an accurate portrayal of that success. i think that was why the filmmakers met with this particular woman. as fran points out, there is actually -- there were men involved in this. it isn't just a female agent that did everything. the film suggests that a female agent played an essential role. there's another person that goes by the name...
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i spoke with cnn contributor, former cia officer bob baer and dr. sanjay gupta. we talked about this last night, but explain again what one warhead filled with sarin could do. >> one of these shells and the standard shell the syrians put this in is a 122 millimeter shell, a standard artillery piece. if they were to drop this into a dense area, into damascus or a suburb of homs, it doesn't matter which town, it will instantly kill 18,000 within the first few minutes. >> from one shell? >> one single shell would immediately kill 18,000 people. you know, this is a liquid. it's dispersed. it sticks on you. you get a few -- a little bit in your system, and you're dead. >> sanjay, what does it do to somebody who comes in contact with it? >> it affects receptors in the brain, and let me preface it by saying it's odorless and tasteless and it's colorless. it's hard to even know, you know, that it's there because of those things. also by touching it as bob was talking about, but also by inhaling it or eating food or drinking water contaminated with it, you can also get po
i spoke with cnn contributor, former cia officer bob baer and dr. sanjay gupta. we talked about this last night, but explain again what one warhead filled with sarin could do. >> one of these shells and the standard shell the syrians put this in is a 122 millimeter shell, a standard artillery piece. if they were to drop this into a dense area, into damascus or a suburb of homs, it doesn't matter which town, it will instantly kill 18,000 within the first few minutes. >> from one...
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>> well, the filmmakers got extensive access to the cia for this. after the mission, after the bin laden raid was a success, the agency was inundated with requests and they really put their backing behind this project. and there is internal e-mails that have come out to show how enthusiastic they were in providing access to the filmmakers who got to talk to this maya character, they got to talk to the head of the counterterrorism center, they got to tour facilities at the agency including the vault where they -- where the bin laden raid was planned and even to see the agency's mock-up of the compound in pakistan where bin laden was found. so it was really unprecedented access for hollywood and that's what accounts for the authenticity here. >> "zero dark thirty," military terminology for half past midnight. greg miller from "the washington post," thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> the fear of the fiscal cliff and its effect on real people. >> we're not trying to live off the system. we're trying to survive. it is not a luxury to be on unemployment
>> well, the filmmakers got extensive access to the cia for this. after the mission, after the bin laden raid was a success, the agency was inundated with requests and they really put their backing behind this project. and there is internal e-mails that have come out to show how enthusiastic they were in providing access to the filmmakers who got to talk to this maya character, they got to talk to the head of the counterterrorism center, they got to tour facilities at the agency including...
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chad sweet is a former cia director of operations. and ken baer is a white housed a virus. todd carmichael is the host of dangerous grounds. howard kurtz will join us. and economic diane swonk rounds things out for us today. "starting point" begins right now. >>> good morning. welcome, everybody. let's begin with developing news this morning. a tsunami threat to tell you about was just lifted in japan. the country was rocked by a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake. it hit off the coast of tokyo. the buildings there shaking. you could see some of the video showing the degree to which they were shaking. alex, what's the latest? >> reporter: it has been a very, very tense few hours here in japan after you mentioned a 7.3 magnitude earthquake striking late here in the day on friday. but just in the past 90 minutes or so, the all clear has been given. the tsunami warning has been lifted. that's great news for the people here. there's no signs of any significant damage. no reports of any deaths. just a few injuries at this point. we also have to keep in mind the nuclear power plan
chad sweet is a former cia director of operations. and ken baer is a white housed a virus. todd carmichael is the host of dangerous grounds. howard kurtz will join us. and economic diane swonk rounds things out for us today. "starting point" begins right now. >>> good morning. welcome, everybody. let's begin with developing news this morning. a tsunami threat to tell you about was just lifted in japan. the country was rocked by a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake. it hit off...
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"outfront" tonight, national security contributor fran townsend who is on the cia and homeland security external advisory board and noah shachtman. noah, what do we think is going on right now? at what point are they in this process? >> so the assad regime has hundreds of metric tons of the building blocks of sarin. basically two big building blocks. there's isopropanol which is rubbing alcohol and phosphorous compounds. those are kept separately in order to keep things safe. but the assad regime in small, limited quantities appears to have combined those two chemicals to make deadly sarin nerve agent and has loaded them on to aerial bombs. >> if that is true, fran, it's a very provocative thing. is it provocative enough that the u.s. now has to consider action? >> well, you know, the administration has not made it clear. what the president has said is that the use of such weapons would be a red line for the united states and her allies. but it's not clear, short of use, is this preparation, is the mixing of the precursor chemicals enough? as noah can tell you this is a very unstable su
"outfront" tonight, national security contributor fran townsend who is on the cia and homeland security external advisory board and noah shachtman. noah, what do we think is going on right now? at what point are they in this process? >> so the assad regime has hundreds of metric tons of the building blocks of sarin. basically two big building blocks. there's isopropanol which is rubbing alcohol and phosphorous compounds. those are kept separately in order to keep things safe....
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if tom donilon were to move to the cia or one of the other posts that's now likely to be open, it would be possible for susan rice to become national security adviser and to be that close with the president. >> and andrea, is there any indication that the upcoming hearings on december 20th had any affect on this coming out today? >> well, i think that there needed to be some resolution before those hearings because those hearings are going to be very difficult as it is, and that would have been a preview, only a taste of what it would have been like to have confirmation hearings. also the signal that john mccain told people he wanted to ask the leadership to put him on the foreign relations committee. he is the senior person on the armed services committee, and for him to then be on foreign relations as well meant he would have been in a key role as someone on the committee confirming her or any other secretary of state. so that was going to be difficult. this was personal. this is where it gets back to the 2008 campaign and things that susan rice said as a combatant in that campaign on
if tom donilon were to move to the cia or one of the other posts that's now likely to be open, it would be possible for susan rice to become national security adviser and to be that close with the president. >> and andrea, is there any indication that the upcoming hearings on december 20th had any affect on this coming out today? >> well, i think that there needed to be some resolution before those hearings because those hearings are going to be very difficult as it is, and that...
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the productive collaboration among the sec, the end cia, commercial users and federal users, we could achieve the twin goals of the efficient commercial use and effective federal use. in closing, this gave the sec some challenging tasks but if we accomplish them our nation's commercial and public safety communications capabilities will improve dramatically. chairman walton, ranking member eshoo, members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding this important hearing, i look forward to listening to your views, answering your questions and continuing to work with you in the weeks, months and years ahead. to implement this landmark legislation. >> thank you for your testimony, thanks to all of you for coming today to testify before our subcommittee. i like to put the record three letters, one from the expanding opportunities for broadcasters coalition announcing a coalition of 25 broadcasters at this early stage who are interested in selling this specter met major markets. a letter from the telecommunications industry associations for efforts to maximize license spectrum for mobile bro
the productive collaboration among the sec, the end cia, commercial users and federal users, we could achieve the twin goals of the efficient commercial use and effective federal use. in closing, this gave the sec some challenging tasks but if we accomplish them our nation's commercial and public safety communications capabilities will improve dramatically. chairman walton, ranking member eshoo, members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding this important hearing, i look forward to...
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you served in iran, going difficult shu, worked for the cia. your thoughts on whether assad would use chemical weapons against the syrian people and whether there is any way to stop it for the united states. >> first of all i don't think that the fact he mixed the chemicals is necessarily an indication he intend to use them. i think if he is cornered and he has no option left, it's possible that he will. the key is finding someone to give him asylum. so he knows there is a way out of this. ultimately if he has no place to go i think he will use chemical weapons in a desperate effort to save his regime. megyn: thrrts reports he's seeking asylum. this is unconfirmed. is this something we should be rooting for? >> absolutely. i think the best interests of erveg involved is to have him go in that direction. we cannot afford from the policy perspective to see military action result in the difficult any nution of the central government capability of syria. we have to retain the army and government. he should leave. the government should stay and that
you served in iran, going difficult shu, worked for the cia. your thoughts on whether assad would use chemical weapons against the syrian people and whether there is any way to stop it for the united states. >> first of all i don't think that the fact he mixed the chemicals is necessarily an indication he intend to use them. i think if he is cornered and he has no option left, it's possible that he will. the key is finding someone to give him asylum. so he knows there is a way out of...
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that's what the cia believed and told her in a briefing given to her that very day. yet, john mccain and others launched a campaign to smear her and block her for moving to the state department. president obama defended rice on numerous occasions, but accepted her decision today with regrelt. just a short time ago, she explained her decision to nbc's brian williams. >> today, i made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the american people, that i not be considered for nomination for secretary of state. i didn't want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged, very politicized. very distracting and very disruptive. there are so many things we need to get done as a country. and the first several months of a second term president's agenda is really the opportunity to get the the crucial thing done. job creation. that's what matters. and to the extent that my nomination could have delayed, distracted or maybe even deflected, i didn't want that. and i'd much prefer to continue doing what i'm doing, which is a job i love at the united nat
that's what the cia believed and told her in a briefing given to her that very day. yet, john mccain and others launched a campaign to smear her and block her for moving to the state department. president obama defended rice on numerous occasions, but accepted her decision today with regrelt. just a short time ago, she explained her decision to nbc's brian williams. >> today, i made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the american people, that i not be considered...
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and then there's a question of cia. the big question is whether john brennan, currently the director of homeland security want that job. it's his if he wants it. the question is, does he? otherwise director morell could get it. the president could perhaps make all of these announcements next week. >> stand by just for a moment. jill dougherty is our state correspondent. it looks potentially like john kerry could be the man that you'll be covering in the weeks and months to come, john kerry, chairman of the foreign relations committee, democratic presidential nominee back in 2004. what are you hearing? >> well, obviously now that susan rice is out of the picture, it would be very logical to turn to him. he is well known for international affairs. every type of issue he seems to have a statement ready within seconds. he's a heavyweight. he knows all of the issues. he wouldn't have the difficulty, it would appear, in the senate for being confirmed with that post as susan rice would have. and it also clears the way now for
and then there's a question of cia. the big question is whether john brennan, currently the director of homeland security want that job. it's his if he wants it. the question is, does he? otherwise director morell could get it. the president could perhaps make all of these announcements next week. >> stand by just for a moment. jill dougherty is our state correspondent. it looks potentially like john kerry could be the man that you'll be covering in the weeks and months to come, john...
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so there are some republicans who might challenge him. >> the cia director, too. so i wouldn't necessarily rule that out. >> there is. >> and what about susan rice? >> that is, of course, the big question. my sources say, the president is still very close to her. a huge susan rice fan, as someone said to me. but this source also said the longer she hangs out there the harder it is. of course, last week was not a great week for her. as you recall, she went to the hill to try to asage republican concerns and mf them came out of that lessen thenthusiast. the president is the one who makes these decisions and he's a huge fan of susan rice. >> well, we'll see what he does. >> and don't forget, in the top four cabinet posts, susan rice is a woman. and i think there's a real sense of diversity in that they'dke to see a woman in one of the top four jobs. >> there should be a woman in the top four jobs. >> secretary of state is a woman. so we'll see about that. >> thank you very much. >>> now arrested, we have details of the surprising charges and a shocking past. .4 [ wom
so there are some republicans who might challenge him. >> the cia director, too. so i wouldn't necessarily rule that out. >> there is. >> and what about susan rice? >> that is, of course, the big question. my sources say, the president is still very close to her. a huge susan rice fan, as someone said to me. but this source also said the longer she hangs out there the harder it is. of course, last week was not a great week for her. as you recall, she went to the hill to...
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>> no, she's an undercover cia agent. >> was there pressure bringing her to the screen knowing she may be watching your portrayal of her. >> or sitting next to me on a bus. >> she could be running the camera in here. we don't know. >> yes, there's a lot of pressure. because whenever you play a real life person, especially a woman i think as wonderful as mya, you don't want to do it wrong. but with this script it was hard to do it wrong. >> jason, we meet you early in this movie and it's tough. you are a cia caseworker and you are conducting interrogations, brutal interrogations of terror suspects that include waterboarding and putting dog collars on these suspects and, you know, exposing them in front of other people. how do you even prepare to do something like that? >> you just throw yourself into it. i love the way they threw us straight into the world of these people that we follow. people are doing the job. and as an actor, i wanted to do justice to the men and women that served in this story. >> and in one of the early confrontations or discussions you had with a terror suspect y
>> no, she's an undercover cia agent. >> was there pressure bringing her to the screen knowing she may be watching your portrayal of her. >> or sitting next to me on a bus. >> she could be running the camera in here. we don't know. >> yes, there's a lot of pressure. because whenever you play a real life person, especially a woman i think as wonderful as mya, you don't want to do it wrong. but with this script it was hard to do it wrong. >> jason, we meet you...
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phillip mudd, a former cia and fbi counterterrorism official, says there's a huge concern over who to trust with chemical weapons. >> when you've got roughly 10% of the opposition in the. >>>s u.s. government is declaring are terrorist group you're going to be concerned. in any case like this, there's a lot of risk. >> reporter: but mudd says it's still better to train the rebels on how to handle those materials than to do nothing. and leonard specter says the u.s. and its allies are likely screening the individuals who are being trained very carefully, wofrl, at least that's the hope. >> despite all that, there's still a potential for these chemical weapons getting into the wrong hands. despite what the u.s. is trying to do. >> reporter: phillip mudd says if the syrian regime loses control of these weapons, that's a huge worry. if they fall into the hands of others who are not trusted by the u.s. or its allies they could float around the border to iraq or other potentially dangerous places where they don't have control over these things. if assad loses control of these things anytime
phillip mudd, a former cia and fbi counterterrorism official, says there's a huge concern over who to trust with chemical weapons. >> when you've got roughly 10% of the opposition in the. >>>s u.s. government is declaring are terrorist group you're going to be concerned. in any case like this, there's a lot of risk. >> reporter: but mudd says it's still better to train the rebels on how to handle those materials than to do nothing. and leonard specter says the u.s. and its...
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now, last night, a former cia officer, robert bear, was speaking to anderson cooper. he described what the use of sarin could do. here's more of what he had to say. >> one round and the dispersion on that could be -- depends on the wind -- but you could take out, let's say a city like homs, you could take out a third of the city in the first couple of hours. anderson, this is a highly toxic liquid. it's a persistent agent. it's absolutely completely deadly. >> reporter: now, we've heard repeatedly from u.s. administration officials, u.s. president barack obama, u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton that the use of chemical weapons in syria was a red line for which syria and the bashar al assad regime would face severe consequences if they ever did cross that red line and utilize chemical weapons against the people of syria. >> and we have no idea what those severe consequences would be, right? >> reporter: that's right, we don't. you know, people speculate that this would mean some type of military intervention, but we also know that a lot of world powers have not w
now, last night, a former cia officer, robert bear, was speaking to anderson cooper. he described what the use of sarin could do. here's more of what he had to say. >> one round and the dispersion on that could be -- depends on the wind -- but you could take out, let's say a city like homs, you could take out a third of the city in the first couple of hours. anderson, this is a highly toxic liquid. it's a persistent agent. it's absolutely completely deadly. >> reporter: now, we've...
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this year of the cia agent a little more complicated than the hollywood spy version portrayal. the post says she was actually passed over for a poe motion shortly after the mission that killed bin laden. also it says she took heat for ties to filmmakers and there was jealousy over her fame and that led to internal friction within the agency. the post says after being given a prestigious award for her work this agent sent an e-mail to dozens of others saying they didn't deserve to share in the accolades. >> not good. >> not getting along very well inside the cia, apparently. >> in the a smart move either. >>> for an expanded look at all of our top stories, head to cnn.com/earlystart. also follow us on twitter and on facebook. just search for early start cnn. >> it's made of steel but it's not a steal by any means. the gift card craze that has some coffee lovers paying way more than face value. look! over time, cascade complete pacs fight film buildup two times better than finish quantum to help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. the clear choice. but when i was in an accident...
this year of the cia agent a little more complicated than the hollywood spy version portrayal. the post says she was actually passed over for a poe motion shortly after the mission that killed bin laden. also it says she took heat for ties to filmmakers and there was jealousy over her fame and that led to internal friction within the agency. the post says after being given a prestigious award for her work this agent sent an e-mail to dozens of others saying they didn't deserve to share in the...
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how would you approach, drawing upon your experience in the cia, how would you approach even solving this mystery in front of us right now? >> i mean, it has to come from intelligence. i doubt that the fbi, as good of work as they really do, are going to get the answers they need talking to libyan witnesses. this has to come through clandestine sources, technical means that'll allow us to pinpoint who did this. you're going to be listening to intercepts and things along this line which will allow you to act. i don't want to act against people who are not responsible for this, but i think after three months considering we have the world's best intelligence agencies and investigators, it's troubling to me, i'm disappointed that we haven't been able to bring these people to justice. and like i said, this is sending a terrible signal to folks around the world. and, you know, rick just mentioned mali. that's a place that's becoming an al-qaeda state. jenna: and youty they're -- do you think there's a connection there? why? >> it's a result of what happened in libya, because after the revo
how would you approach, drawing upon your experience in the cia, how would you approach even solving this mystery in front of us right now? >> i mean, it has to come from intelligence. i doubt that the fbi, as good of work as they really do, are going to get the answers they need talking to libyan witnesses. this has to come through clandestine sources, technical means that'll allow us to pinpoint who did this. you're going to be listening to intercepts and things along this line which...
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what about the big guns, cia and fbi you advised in the past, are they on this? do they have the capabilities to protect tech us? >> no. not to protect us. that will come from the companies, the private sector that build this. the banks. what they can provide is something intelligence and information. they need to do a better job sharing information and intelligence and financial services industry was the first one to create the financial services information sharing analysis center. president clinton signed it into office called presidential directive 63 said let's do a better job sharing information between the government and the private sector to better defend against these threats. it is intelligence that will help you prevent this a lot. jenna: i am curious, i have to let you go, if you're cybersecurity analysts do you a do a lot of shopping online. >> i do but gone to use apps on ipad to stay off-line. i'm a mac guy through and through. jenna: you don't work for mac or employed by apple. >> no, but i prefer it because it works but absolutely because of the
what about the big guns, cia and fbi you advised in the past, are they on this? do they have the capabilities to protect tech us? >> no. not to protect us. that will come from the companies, the private sector that build this. the banks. what they can provide is something intelligence and information. they need to do a better job sharing information and intelligence and financial services industry was the first one to create the financial services information sharing analysis center....
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cnn national security contributor fran townsend, a member of the external advisory committees to the cia and department of homeland security. general marks, let me start with you. what are the military options at this stage right now? realistically, what could the use, nato, the international community militarily do if there is an indication that the syrian military's about to use chemical weapons against its own people. >> wolf, that's the key point. in advance of its use what can the u.s. do? and it's clearly having a very robust, very broad intelligence collection apparatus that takes into account all means of collection, technical as well as human intelligence. there are known sites where the chemical weapons are stockpiled, where the production sites are. then there has to be an act to marry those up with the distribution or delivery means. >> a missile. >> a missile, artillery shell, put into a bomb then uploaded under the wings of an aircraft. all those are indicators of what might occur. intelligence has to be very, very robust in order to go after that. then, if it is such that
cnn national security contributor fran townsend, a member of the external advisory committees to the cia and department of homeland security. general marks, let me start with you. what are the military options at this stage right now? realistically, what could the use, nato, the international community militarily do if there is an indication that the syrian military's about to use chemical weapons against its own people. >> wolf, that's the key point. in advance of its use what can the...
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he's alleges got the cia slot to fill as well. there are rumors there may be changes on his national security team. but nobody is being very specific about it at this point. >> shira, just the optics of the gop engaged in -- in a days-long filibuster with regards to susan rice, attacking susan rice for days. is that a fight that they want to pick? >> you'd think they wouldn't want to pick this fight, especially when there are other well-qualified people who want to be secretary of state such as john kerry, the senator of massachusetts, has made no secret at all that this is a position he's wanted far really long time. so you think this would not be a battle the white house would pick. but obviously the president has a lot of loyalty to susan rice. his defense of her a couple weeks ago from the podium was really unique and frankly defensive. so if this is who he wants, he has every right to nominate her and the senate has every right to say no. >> david, before i let you guys get out of here, i had katon dawson on a few minutes ago
he's alleges got the cia slot to fill as well. there are rumors there may be changes on his national security team. but nobody is being very specific about it at this point. >> shira, just the optics of the gop engaged in -- in a days-long filibuster with regards to susan rice, attacking susan rice for days. is that a fight that they want to pick? >> you'd think they wouldn't want to pick this fight, especially when there are other well-qualified people who want to be secretary of...